Public or Private: Adaptations in the Use of Public Space During the Maya Late Classic Period

Author(s): Jennifer Wildt

Year: 2015

Summary

Are all open spaces public spaces? What factors influence how ‘public’ a space is? How did the population increase during the Late Classic period impact the use and design of open spaces in the Maya lowlands? To understand how the Maya adapted their built environment in response to high populations, I examine the architectural features of plazas and patios in a ritual-residential group at Xultun. In the Late Classic period, residents erected additional buildings within patios, reducing the amount of space available for quotidian activities. At the same time, two large open spaces were constructed adjacent to this group. This paper explores the possibility that the Maya adapted some open spaces for activities normally conducted within patios and that lowland plazas may exhibit greater diversity than we currently recognize.

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Cite this Record

Public or Private: Adaptations in the Use of Public Space During the Maya Late Classic Period. Jennifer Wildt. Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 396883)

Keywords

Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica

Spatial Coverage

min long: -107.271; min lat: 12.383 ; max long: -86.353; max lat: 23.08 ;